Monthly Archives: December 2009

Tradition says that this is a reference to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel (right judgment), fortitude, knowledge, piety, and awe of God. Or the seven sacraments of the church: baptism, eucharist (communion), reconciliation, confirmation, marriage, holy orders (ordination), and anointing of the sick.

And today is the sixth day of Kwanzaa, where we focus on Kuumba (koo-OOM-bah)or creativity that helps us use our creative energies to build and maintain a strong and vibrant community.

In this combination of virtues, sacraments and Kwanzaa principle, we can truly experience God’s deep desire that we be at peace with each other in community. That community is more than those at MCC Richmond, or in global MCC, or even everyone in Central Virginia. God wants the whole world to be at peace, together.

Let our resolution for 2010 be to live peacefully, adding our peace to others to create an abundance of peace for all.

The sixth day of Christmas……six geese a-laying. I have never seen a goose lay an egg, but I do know that when they swim they look serene on top of the water even as they are paddling furiously underneath. And why do we often speak of someone who fails at something as having laid an egg?

Some tradition says the geese and their laying refer to the six days of creation. The account of creation in Genesis makes it seem a little like that–God utters a word or two and things appear. It all sounds so easy, like the goose swimming serenely on the pond.

I do not doubt that God can do that, but I suspect God spends some time getting things ready before the divine utterance, and that the process was/is not entirely serene. Of course, creation continues to this very day.

And today is the fifth day of Kwanzaa, when we focus on Nia (NEE-yah), encouraging us to look within ourselves and to set personal goals that are beneficial to the community.

Perhaps we can bring these two days together by asking God to help us be as creative as possible in setting goals for ourselves and our community/ies–goals that honor the entirety of God’s creation.

In other words, to help us avoid laying an egg . . . . . a big goose egg.

Five golden rings…………the fifth day of the “12 Days of Christmas”–the verse on which we get to pause and hold a long note.

Some interpret this five as the first five books of the Bible, the Jewish Torah, which contains so much wisdom about God and how we need God.

I remember “Golden Books” from my childhood. Perhaps we can think of Torah as golden books for all ages.

It also is the fourth day of Kwanaa, observing the principle of Ujamaa, cooperative economics. The early Hebrews clearly knew about cooperative economics, understanding that God did not want them to hurt others economically (strong prohibitions on excessive interest, e.g., and the Year of Jubilee) and actually to care for each other, especially those most in need.

So, perhaps today we can reflect on how we are indeed our neighbor’s keeper, and that our neighbor is in some sense every person. Of course, we can’t care directly for the whole world, but we can pray for the well-being of everyone in the world and we can promote community life that recognizes the worth and dignity of all persons.

That would be a worthy response to the wisdom of Torah and Kwanzaa, and a great way to praise God.

On the 4th day of Christmas . . . .four calling birds? What kind of true love would give you four calling birds?

What does one do with four calling birds? In winter, presumably in the house? Buy a cage, and be prepared to leave when the noise becomes too much?

Some say this song is not nonsense, even though the gifts often seem silly (but not five golden rings). They say that the numbers refer to various spiritual items.

For instance, four calling birds actually refers to the four canonical gospels. The four evangelists who wrote these books are like calling birds, saying to us, “Come, follow Jesus.”

I hope you are hearing that call today in your life.

The twelve days of Christmas are a prime time to heed the call. Don’t let the Christmas spirit die out in you; instead, stay tuned to it, feeling it more deeply after the busy-ness of Christmas has slowed.

If it helps to hum the well-known tune, please do so. If nothing else, its sprightly melody can lift your spirits (if you need that) or keep them up.

Most of all, remember this is only Day Four, and some of the best stuff is yet to come.

Mexico City is the latest, voting to allow same-gender unions and adoptions by same-gender couples. Argentina and Colombia have made recent moves towards liberalization–and Urguay already allows same-gender civil unions.

Yes, Uruguay.

Buenos Aires legalized same-sex civil unions in 2002 but conflicting judicial rulings have stymied them. Several other Argentine cities, as well as Mexican and Brazilian states, also permit same-sex unions. Colombia has granted social security rights to gay couples; Venezuela is considering same-sex civil unions.

Of course, discrimination continues in many places. Walter Orlando Trochez, 27, a prominent gay and anti-coup activist in Honduras, was shot dead last week.

But the trend is beginning to feel like a powerful wave, even as the inevitable push-back from conservative political groups and the Roman Catholic Church heats up.

The shifts are hard to analyze, especially because traditional machismo attitudes toward women don’t seem to be softening, and abortion is still widely condemned. What seems clear is that religious bodies are not able to stop political change when the political leaders decide to act.

Just think what would happen here if religious leaders led the way–since most of our political leaders seem afraid to do so.

I am sure that already MCC is making a difference in Latin America, opening many churches and helping local activist groups. Can we gain inspiration from Latin America?

I don’t like snow. And I don’t slow down well. But sometimes, two less than desirable things conspire to produce a good thing.

The recent 10″ snowfall in Richmond forced the cancellation of a church leadership dinner and two worship services. I resisted the cancellations for as long as I could–how would the world go on without them?–but reality eventually intruded.

So, for two days I stayed home. I like to stay home.

And I got to do something I have wanted to do for a long time: I used the webcam on my laptop to produce and post a message for our church.

The production values were not high. I had to do it five times before I figured out all the steps. But it broke the ice for me. I want to do more of this, because I think we can connect with more and different people.